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Plugable has been making a name for itself with some pretty good docking stations. The first one that caught my eye was the Triple 4K Docking Station that I reviewed last year, which supported three 4K displays without Thunderbolt support. As somebody with an AMD-powered laptop, this ended up very useful. One of the company's latest additions is the Plugable 16-in-1 Thunderbolt 4 Dock (TBT4-UDZ), which is the first fully-featured Thunderbolt 4 docking station it's ever made.

At first glance, it may look just like the Thunderbolt 3 dock that's already part of its portfolio, but this new model comes with big upgrades, including support for up to four 4K displays, in addition to having a lot of other ports, even a 2.5Gb Ethernet port. Not only that, it adds a power button, which is a feature I really appreciate in a docking station.

Frankly, I can't think of many downsides to the Plugable Thunderbolt 4 dock. It has a ton of ports, and the number of displays you can run out of it is impressive. You do need a Windows laptop with Thunderbolt 4 support, which isn't great for anybody else. The only other major problem is that the microSD card slot is finicky, and it can be hard to remove a card once you've inserted it.

About this review: Plugable sent us the 16-in-1 Thunderbolt 4 Dock for review. The company did not have any input in its contents.

An image of the Plugable 16-in-1 Thunderbolt 4 Dock
Plugable 16-in-1 Thunderbolt 4 Dock
The Best

Tons of ports for a surprisingly reasonable price

The Plugable 16-in-1 Thunderbolt 4 Dock is an impressive docking station with a total of 16 ports, including support for up to four 4K displays at 60Hz on Windows. It also includes 2.5Gb Ethernet, lots of USB ports, power delivery, and a power button.

Ports
3 x USB Type-A 10Gbps, 2 x USB Type-A 5Gbps, 1 x USB 2.0 Type-A (7.5W charging), 1 x USB Type-C (10Gbps, 7.5W), 1x RJ45 Ethernet (2.5Gbps), 2 x HDMI 2.0, 2 x DisplayPort 1.2, 1x 3.5mm combo audio jack, 1 x SD card slot (UHS-II), 1 x microSD card slot, 1 x Thunderbolt 4 (to host)
USB Power Delivery
98W power delivery to host, 7.5W USB Type-A, 7.5W USB Type-C
Power supply included
135W power supply
Max display res.
Up to 4 x 4K (3840 x 2160) displays at 60Hz (2 x 4K 60Hz on Mac)
Price
$299
Pros
  • 16 ports is enough for just about any peripheral you might have
  • Support for four 4K displays, extremely rare in a docking station
  • Premium build quality
  • A power button
Cons
  • Support for four displays requires a Windows laptop
  • No downstream Thunderbolt ports
  • microSD cards tend to get stuck

Plugable 16-in-1 Thunderbolt 4 Dock: Pricing and availability

Angled view of the Plugable 16-in-1 Thunderbolt 4 Dock facing left
  • The Plugable 16-in-1 Thunderbolt 4 Dock launched in January 2023
  • It costs $299 and it's available from Amazon and other retailers

Plugable announced the 16-in-1 Thunderbolt 4 Dock in early 2023 during CES, and it became available for purchase immediately after it was announced. The easiest place to find it is Amazon, though it's also available at retailers like Walmart and Newegg.

Official pricing puts it at just $299, which is actually surprisingly cheap for what you're getting here. Thunderbolt docks have been getting more expensive in recent months, and with super-premium options like the CalDigit TS4 running you $400, it's kind of amazing that Plugable could fit this much functionality into a relatively affordable package.

Design and build quality: The metal chassis gives it a premium feel

Front view of the Plugable 16-in-1 Thunderbolt 4 Dock in a horizontal position
  • The dock can be used horizontally or with a vertical stand
  • It has a power button, so you can easily turn off all your peripherals

Even with its relatively affordable pricing, the Plugable 16-in-1 Thunderbolt 4 Dock doesn't feel like it cuts a lot of corners, and that goes for the design, too. Just like the Thunderbolt 3 model, it uses a chassis that's partly made of metal, which also serves as a heatsink to cool the components inside the dock. It looks and feels premium, though options like the CalDigit TS4 do have a more imposing all-metal design that's hard to top.

One of my favorite features about this dock is, frankly, the power button.

The dock is designed to be used horizontally or vertically, and it comes with a stand for the latter option. The stand has a rubber base that keeps the dock firmly in place, and it's unlikely you'll accidentally push it off the table. That's not the case if you plan to use it horizontally, as there's no kind of grip if you lay it out that way.

Close-up view of the power button on the Plugable 16-in-1 Thunderbolt 4 Dock

One of my favorite features about this dock is, frankly, the power button. It's a new addition compared to the previous model, and it's definitely a welcome one. When your office is also your bedroom, it's great to have a way to easily turn off any unnecessary lights at night, though the power-on light is soft, so it's not a big deal in the first place. Even if the light doesn't bother you, you can save power by turning off the dock when you're not using it, and it's easier to do it this way than having to unplug the power cables every time.

Ports and connectivity: Up to four 4K displays, and all the ports you need

  • You can connect up to four 4K displays at 60Hz, but only on Windows
  • The dock also includes 2.5Gbps Ethernet and six USB Type-A ports

The feature that stands out to me the most with this dock is the ability to connect up to four 4K displays at 60Hz using a single port on your laptop. That's a claim I have yet to see, and it's especially interesting for a Thunderbolt dock. Plugable has made triple 4K display docking stations before, but only using DisplayLink, which doesn't use the typical display drivers on your PC. Most Thunderbolt docks only support two 4K displays at 60Hz, but here, you can use the two HDMI and two DisplayPort outputs all at the same time.

Rear view of the Plugable 16-in-1 Thunderbolt 4 Dock in horizontal position

To use four displays at once here, you will need a Windows PC with Thunderbolt 4 support, so even high-end Macs are still limited to just two displays. That's because macOS doesn't support DisplayPort Multi-Stream Transport (MST), which is what enables this capability. This is also not supported on laptops with Thunderbolt 3, so if you have an older laptop, you'll also be limited to two 4K displays rather than four.

There's 2.5Gbps Ethernet for fast, wired internet connections.

I don't have this many 4K screens, but I tested this to the best of my ability by connecting four monitors I had during this time. This includes one ultrawide monitor running at 5120 x 1440 and 144Hz, and three others at Full HD (1920 x 1080) and 165Hz, 75Hz, and 60Hz refresh rates. Indeed, even with some of the higher refresh rates and resolutions, all the monitors worked just fine. I even made a somewhat comedic tweet about it.

A Plugable 16-in-1 Thunderbolt 4 Dock connected to multiple peripherals, including a monitor.

The rest of the port setup is just as impressive, too. There are six USB Type-A ports here, and four of them are on the back, so it's easy to connect all my most frequently-used peripherals on the same side. My keyboard, mouse, and webcam are all plugged in there at all times, and I still have room to spare. There's also an additional USB Type-C port for more modern devices to connect to. Additionally, there's 2.5Gbps Ethernet for fast, wired internet connections, and you also get SD and microSD card readers as well as a 3.5mm combo audio jack.

Unfortunately, just as with the previous Thunderbolt 3 model, I've found the microSD card slot to be extremely cumbersome. It uses a spring-loaded mechanism to eject the card, but my experience has always been that the card gets stuck in the slot, and I have to use my fingernail to actually pull it out. It seems like there's a design flaw here preventing the mechanism from properly ejecting the card.

Should you buy the Plugable 16-in-1 Thunderbolt 4 Dock?

Ultimately, I came away very impressed with the Plugable 16-in-1 Thunderbolt 4 Dock and the features it offers considering the price. The fact that you can use four 4K displays with a single port on your laptop is incredibly impressive, and on top of that, there are a ton of ports, and fast ones at that. It all comes in a nice design with a (partly) metal chassis, too.

You should buy the Plugable 16-in-1 Thunderbolt 4 Dock if:

  • You need a lot of ports for peripherals
  • You want to use four 4K displays with a single port on your laptop
  • You have a Windows PC with Thunderbolt 4
  • You don't want to buy a super-premium $400 dock

You shouldn't buy the Plugable 16-in-1 Thunderbolt 4 Dock if:

  • You use the microSD card slot very frequently
  • You have a ChromeOS or Linux PC
  • You need downstream Thunderbolt ports

Outside of having an incompatible device, the biggest reason to reconsider getting this dock is how finicky the microSD card slot can be. It can cause quite a bit of frustration to have the card stuck in the slot, and that will be greatly amplified if you do it regularly. Otherwise, the Plugable 16-in-1 Thunderbolt Dock is a phenomenal choice with a price that really helps it stand out from the competition.

An image of the Plugable 16-in-1 Thunderbolt 4 Dock
Plugable 16-in-1 Thunderbolt 4 Dock

The Plugable 16-in-1 Thunderbolt 4 Dock is an impressive docking station with a total of 16 ports, including support for up to four 4K displays at 60Hz on Windows. It also includes 2.5Gb Ethernet, lots of USB ports, power delivery, and a power button.